Senator Mark R. Warner, United States Congress (D-VA)

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is one of the Senate’s leading voices on advanced illness and the issues faced by caregivers. Senator Warner knows personally the challenging journey family members are faced with when caring for a loved one. His father and sister were the primary caregivers for his mother, who had Alzheimer’s for 10 years.

Prior to his time in public service, Mark co-founded the Virginia Health Care Foundation, which has since provided care to hundreds of thousands of underserved Virginians, and started SeniorNavigator.com, which helps older Virginians and their caregivers find answers to medical questions, locate senior health services, and connect with other senior citizens in their communities. As Governor of Virginia from 2002-2006, Mark enacted landmark legislation to improve protections for those in adult care.

Since entering the Senate in 2009, Senator Warner has continued to focus on these crucial issues. Just six months after taking office, he introduced the Senior Navigation and Planning Act, legislation that would have strengthened the quality and availability of counseling, support services, and care management for patients and families coping with life-limiting illnesses. This Congress, Senator Warner teamed up with Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) to introduce the bipartisan Care Planning Act, which gives patients and their families the ability to make decisions when they can and provides enough support and information so that they can make informed choices based upon their own values and goals. The bill lessens the burden on caregivers by giving people with serious illness the freedom to make more informed choices about their care, and the power to have those choices honored, offering a patient centered approach to pre-planning for care.

As co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, Senator Warner introduced and cosponsored Senate resolutions affirming the national goal of preventing and treating Alzheimer’s by 2025, as well as legislation to provide comprehensive Alzheimer’s diagnosis and treatment services. Supporting Alzheimer’s research is personal for Senator Warner, who knows firsthand the devastating impact this disease has on individuals and families.

Senator Warner is also helping to advance other legislation that would benefit older adults and Americans with disabilities. From his commitment to strengthening Medicare and Social Security for today’s seniors and the next generation, to his vote to save Virginia seniors almost $200 million on prescription drugs, Senator Warner is committed to issues facing older Americans. Additionally, Senator Warner is a co-sponsor of the ABLE Act, a bipartisan bill that would allow the one-in-five Americans with a disability to contribute to America’s economy while accessing savings tools to lay the groundwork for a brighter future.

We at the Alliance would like to thank Senator Warner for his leadership in advocating for policies that would improve long-term care and caregiving for American families.